Seeing another war of words about to erupt, the supreme beauty on the palanquin merely waved her hand lightly, and all the clamor fell silent.
Finally, after leaving behind three thick sheepskin coats, the procession departed in grand fashion.
Before leaving, the beautiful woman reclined lazily on the soft sedan, glancing back. Her gaze fell on Lu Yuan, the corners of her mouth holding a faint, ambiguous smile.
"When you have time, come back to Fengtian City. Your Auntie Qin always talks about you."
Her voice was soft and sweet, like it had hooks, rippling through the slightly cold air.
Lu Yuan's heart stirred slightly, and he nodded somewhat unnaturally.
"Alright, alright..."
Not until the group's figures had completely disappeared at the end of the mountain road.
Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an had already eagerly wrapped themselves in the warm and soft sheepskin coats.
"Hey, this is really damn warm!"
After putting it on, Xu Erxiao grinned widely, his face blooming with a smile.
Wang Cheng'an beside him wore a curious expression, leaning over to ask in a low voice, "Brother Lu, who is Auntie Qin?"
Lu Yuan was also putting on his sheepskin coat. Hearing the question, before he could explain, Xu Erxiao eagerly jumped in, shaking his head, "She's also a big..."
His words were cut short by a dull thud.
Xu Erxiao's bottom solidly received a kick from Lu Yuan.
Clutching his rear, grimacing, he changed his words, "She's also an extremely beautiful lady! On the same level as that big rouge mare just now!"
"Ridiculously wealthy. Those new side halls that were built at our True Dragon Temple, Auntie Qin donated them all by herself."
Wang Cheng'an had entered the temple late and knew nothing of these old matters. He listened with wide-eyed amazement.
"My heavens, there's someone as beautiful as that big rouge mare?"
Xu Erxiao nodded repeatedly, speaking with spittle flying, "Of course! But Auntie Qin isn't as tall as her, only about 1.7 meters, can't compare in figure."
Lu Yuan, having just changed into his coat, glanced at Xu Erxiao beside him who was just over 1.6 meters tall, and found it amusing.
"You, a short winter melon at 1.6 meters, still have the nerve to say Auntie Qin is 'only' 1.7 meters?"
Lu Yuan retied the binding rope around his waist while unable to help complaining.
Auntie Qin's height of 1.7 meters, not to mention in this era where people generally couldn't eat their fill.
Even if placed in his previous life on Earth, she would definitely be a tall and outstanding goddess-level beauty and set against these malnourished, generally short "goblins," she stood out like a crane among chickens, graceful and elegant.
"So Auntie Qin and Brother Lu have a really good relationship then?"
Wang Cheng'an gossiped with a face full of curiosity.
Xu Erxiao puffed out his chest with pride, "Of course! That new hall at our temple, Auntie Qin donated it completely for our Brother Lu's sake."
Speaking of this, Xu Erxiao looked at Lu Yuan beside him with immense curiosity, "Brother Lu, what's the deal with you and that Auntie Qin? How come you're so close? Before, when Master sent you to handle business for her, didn't she look down on you? How come after you finished the job, the relationship became so good?"
Lu Yuan, having changed into his new clothes, sat back down on the ground, "Practice properly, work seriously."
"Stop gossiping here. Now that you've eaten, it's time to cultivate."
When the eldest senior brother spoke, Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an immediately fell silent.
The two always obeyed Lu Yuan's words without question, even to the point of near worship.
Although by age, Lu Yuan was only one year older than Xu Erxiao and two years older than Wang Cheng'an but his position as eldest senior brother among True Dragon Temple's dozens of disciples was as stable as Mount Tai, with no one daring to disobey.
Among the reasons, certainly there was the old master who only knew how to drink all day treating him like his own son with favoritism, but more importantly, Lu Yuan himself was worthy.
Of course, there was also a most crucial secret...
Lu Yuan had the [Subdue Demons and Eliminate Evil] system on his side. At only nineteen, he had already touched the threshold of the Celestial Master realm.
You must know, in this world, being able to advance to Celestial Master at thirty years old was enough to be called a dragon among men, a heaven-blessed genius.
...
Time passed quietly in meditation.
From noon at twelve o'clock to five-thirty in the evening.
Winter days were short and nights long. The sun had long since withdrawn its last rays of light, sinking into the western mountains.
Below the mountain in Ningyuan Town, lights from every household and bonfires along the streets lit up one after another, like stars scattered across the dark earth.
"Brother Lu, I'm hungry."
Wang Cheng'an clutched his rumbling stomach and opened his eyes pitifully.
Half-grown boys could eat their fathers into poverty.
Including Lu Yuan himself, he wished he could eat ten meals a day.
"I'm hungry too."
Xu Erxiao immediately opened his eyes and chimed in.
Hearing this, Lu Yuan stood up from the ground.
"I'll go down the mountain to buy some food. What do you want to eat?"
Today they had set up an altar and arrangements around the grave mound to deal with the jiangshi. Someone had to stay to watch over it.
If some ignorant passerby or something else damaged it, tonight's work would be ruined.
This was also why Lu Yuan had been somewhat nervous when the beautiful woman's group suddenly appeared in the afternoon.
If the other party also performed rituals here, the two sides' qi fields and formations could easily clash, with unpredictable consequences.
Of course, normally speaking, at this hour, no one would come up the mountain. It would be better if all three went down together for a hot meal but rules were rules, and Lu Yuan was very cautious in his work.
"I want smoked meat flatbread with roast duck!"
"I want mutton soup with extra chili, and a bottle of orange soda!"
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, "Eat something dry. How am I supposed to bring mutton soup back for you? After we finish with this jiangshi, we'll go drink some."
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, Xu Erxiao began pondering again. However, before Xu Erxiao could finish pondering, a sound came from behind, "Daoist Master, may you be merciful."
Hm?
Lu Yuan turned to look and saw a team of black-clothed guards appearing behind him. This was...
That supreme beautiful mature woman's people?
Coming to his senses, Lu Yuan immediately bowed slightly, "Infinite Blessings of the Celestial Venerable..."
The leader was Wang Fu, who had brought the sheepskin coats to the three of them this afternoon.
Wang Fu waved his hand, and the team came forward carrying things.
Wang Fu bowed slightly toward Lu Yuan, "We slaughtered three sheep over there tonight. Madam was thinking of Daoist Master here, so she entrusted me to bring some mutton, mutton soup, and white flour flatbread."
Eh?
Lu Yuan was stunned. The team had already come up and opened the food boxes.
Borrowing the last glimmer of twilight from the sky's edge, Lu Yuan saw plate after plate, bowl after bowl of steaming meat dishes.
There were thick steamed flatbreads, milky white mutton soup, crystal-clear sliced mutton, fragrant roasted lamb ribs.
There was even a plate of cold mixed lamb offal with chili peppers.
There were even two large bowls, one filled with emerald green cilantro, one filled with tender white scallions, obviously meant to go with the mutton soup.
"Oh my, this is too much, we really..."
For a moment, Lu Yuan waved his hands repeatedly, wanting to refuse.
Working for an employer and eating the employer's food, that was no problem.
The problem was, his side hadn't done any work for that supreme beautiful mature woman, so how could he feel right about eating her food?
Wang Fu, whose face had shown little expression, now squeezed out a trace of a smile, "Madam said you're Madam Song's dear nephew, so naturally you're also her dear nephew."
"We're all one family, no need to be polite."
"We have plenty more over there. If Daoist Master feels it's not enough, you can come over anytime to get more. The two mountain peaks aren't far apart."
With the words having gone this far, Lu Yuan couldn't refuse anymore.
He wanted to pay, but Wang Fu led his people in putting down the items, cupped his hands, then turned and led the team away, crisp and efficient, giving Lu Yuan no opportunity.
This whole exchange really made Lu Yuan feel embarrassed.
He turned to look beside him. Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an were staring eagerly at the food boxes, practically drooling onto the ground.
Lu Yuan helplessly curled his lip.
"Stop staring, dig in. Now you can have your mutton soup."
Having received Lu Yuan's permission, Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an immediately cheered, each grabbing a large bowl, ready to start feasting.
"Hey, this big sexy mare is actually pretty nice..."
Xu Erxiao had just ladled up a bowl of steaming mutton soup when, before finishing his words, he was kicked again by Lu Yuan. The soup bowl in his hand nearly slipped from his grasp.
Lu Yuan stood in place with his hands on his hips, glaring at Xu Erxiao, "Before, you called her big sexy mare, I didn't call you out on it. Now you're wearing the sheepskin coat she gave you, drinking the mutton soup she sent. What should you call her?"
Xu Erxiao paused, then grinned foolishly and quickly corrected himself, "Female Bodhisattva! She's a Female Bodhisattva!"
Lu Yuan shook his head helplessly, too lazy to say more.
To be honest, the disciples of his True Dragon Temple sometimes really spoke too crudely.
Couldn't be helped. True Dragon Temple's disciples were all selected from poor families in the Fengtian City area.
Add to that the old man who only knew how to drink heavily and teach techniques during the day, not managing anything else.
In terms of manners, they really weren't on the same level as a major temple like Wuqing Temple.
Well, they'd work on it slowly in the future.
Lu Yuan also sat down and joined in this sumptuous dinner.
The three ate ravenously, and in no time at all, they had swept away all the food.
They lay comfortably on the ground, even unbuttoning their sheepskin coats.
Having frozen all day in this icy, snowy weather, with a bowl of scalding mutton soup sprinkled with cilantro, scallions, and chili peppers going down.
That warm current rushed from their stomachs straight to their limbs and bones. Their whole bodies broke out in hot sweat.
"Clean up the bowls and chopsticks. I'll go return them."
Lu Yuan, who had been resting on the ground for a while, stood up and spoke to Xu Erxiao and Wang Cheng'an beside him.
The two quickly got up and clattered about, stuffing all the bowls and chopsticks back into the two large food boxes.
Lu Yuan picked up the two large food boxes, pondering what auspicious words to say later, while walking in the direction Wang Fu's group had disappeared.
Lu Yuan had just walked about ten meters, reaching the top of this mountain peak. He was looking around, searching for the firelight on the opposite mountain peak, when his footsteps suddenly halted.
His whole person was as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Holy crap?!
[Type: Chang Ghost]
[Cultivation Years: 137 years]
[Weaknesses: Thunder, electricity, fire]
[Danger Level: ★★☆]
Five-star chang ghost?!!
[Type: Hanged Ghost]
[Cultivation Years: 115 years]
[Weaknesses: Thunder, electricity, fire]
[Danger Level: ★★★]
Six-star hanged ghost??!
There's... there's more??!
Looking at the densely packed blood-red text at the firelight on the mountain peak ahead, Lu Yuan was somewhat dazed...